Prosecutor: Father charged with letting kid's teeth rot has been skipping drug testing

EMILY PAYNE, THE MORNING CALL

Prosecutors are seeking to revoke the bail of Kenneth Wanamaker, a Lehigh Township man who is charged with letting his 6-year-old daughter’s teeth rot and who is under investigation in the deaths of three of his other children.

Prosecutors are seeking to revoke the bail of Kenneth Wanamaker, a Lehigh Township man who is charged with letting his 6-year-old daughter’s teeth rot and who is under investigation in the deaths of three of his other children. (EMILY PAYNE, THE MORNING CALL)

Prosecutors are seeking to revoke the bail of a Lehigh Township man who is charged with letting his 6-year-old daughter's teeth rot and who is under investigation in the deaths of three of his other children.

Kenneth Wanamaker Jr. failed twice this week to appear for court-ordered drug testing and also hasn't enrolled in treatment, as he was required to do, Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Patricia Broscius said Friday in a legal filing.

The petition isn't the first time that Wanamaker has been accused of spurning drug testing while under pretrial supervision. Last month, he was briefly jailed after a court hearing before District Judge Robert Hawke, after Wanamaker allegedly failed to show for testing and check-ins with authorities.

Wanamaker, 37, has been free on a $75,000 bond. Broscius wants a judge to increase the amount by another $25,000.

Efforts to reach Wanamaker on Friday were unsuccessful as his lawyer in his appearance before Hawke, Robert Sharpe Jr., said he no longer represents him in the criminal case.

Wanamaker and his partner, Jessica L. Hoffman, face child endangerment charges that accuse them of allowing their daughter's teeth to decay so severely that a dentist said it could have killed her.

District Attorney John Morganelli has said his office has launched a larger probe into the couple, given a baby son who died of pneumonia in 2011 and two stillborn deliveries since 2007 — one linked by a coroner to Hoffman's methamphetamine abuse.

At a news conference Aug. 20, Morganelli said the three deaths raised "red flags" for him, given the dental neglect allegations. But he noted that Pennsylvania law protects pregnant mothers from criminal liability in their treatment of their unborn children, which he suggested could make charges problematic.

The investigation is ongoing, Morganelli said this week.

A hearing on Broscius' motion is scheduled Sept. 12 at the county courthouse in Easton.